Physical Description

Physical Description

Adult American crows are completely black birds weighing on average 450 g. The feathers have a glossy and slightly iridescent look. Crows have strong legs and toes. The bill is also black with a slight hook on the end. Stiff bristles cover their nostrils. About 20% of male birds are slightly larger than the females.

Young crows are about the same size as adults, but have blue eyes and pink inside the mouth. Both the eyes and mouth darken as the bird becomes an adult. In young birds, the ends of tail feathers are symmetrical and are more pointed than the wide, flat-ended feathers of adults. The wing and tail feathers of the young can become quite brown and ragged through the first winter and spring and only become darker and more glossy like adult feathers after the first molt.

American crows are often confused with common ravens. American crows can be distinguished from common ravens (Corvus_corax) most easily by size (ravens are much larger), by voice (ravens are hoarser), by the bill (ravens have heavier, "roman-nosed" bills), and by the shape of the wings and tails, which come to a point in ravens but not crows.